jackdizo

Usually at 260 and dropping you will continue to see more clarity and it should be wadeable. Streamers will be the game. When its stained and moving like it is now nymphs and dries rarely produce much in my experience. It has produced really well on streamers before however at that cfs. A lot of it just depends on water clarity. Hope this helps.

@2sheds I called the forest service before I headed out there in case they had it closed like some of the other streams in the Ozarks. They had minimal damage and the campground was good to go.

Fished LP on Saturday. Was worried the water would be a little high and possibly make fishing difficult since I have never fished the creek when it was running above 400 cfs. But it made for less stealthy approaches and fish were eager to eat once I figured them out. There were some tricos coming off in the am, as well as some scattered caddis and PMDs. However the fish were not rising very regularly, so I mostly nymphed the deeper slower pools. Fish were found mostly in the tail-outs of pools or behind structure. The creek and fish looked to be in great shape after the floods. Brought around 30 fish to hand and later in the afternoon had a good caddis hatch and caught quite a few on dries to round the day out. Had the entire creek to myself all day before seeing a few people on my way out swimming. Not a bad Saturday... Here is a pic of the best fish of the day! Tight Lines! Jack

@bkbying89 Its nice, it was my first fly rod, so it has a special place with me and has seen a lot of good fish. It says its a moderate fast action I believe on their website, but its much more of a fast action, since most sage stuff is faster. Its a great nymphing rod and handles pretty big streamers well being a 6wt. But I would not buy one for throwing dries. I have a Sage Mod which is a bit more pricey, buy a great rod!

Got out earlier in the week since the forecast was calling for lots of rain, and the streams were most likely going to get blown out. Hit up my favorite creek to test out some new streamers I tied in search of some Spring Small Jaws. I was not disappointed. They were caught deep and shallow in slower water, most fish were fat and seemed to be pre-spawn, however I did stumble across some on beds, and let them do their thing. Here are a few better ones from earlier in the week and a couple from a few weeks back. Things are only going to get better here soon with Summer on its way! Tight lines.

Nice Fish, That creek is amazing. Thanks for sharing.

Ventured down to the Eleven Point last weekend with a friend for some camping, floating, and fishing. Average 65 degree weekends in February don't always show up, so we were excited to get out on the water. We ended up deciding we would only float from Greer to Turner and move at a snails pace, picking apart each good looking stretch of water as we went. Friday was bluebird skies and warm, probably nearing 70 degrees. Fishing in this weather although very enjoyable, made it a little tougher then usual, but we still managed around 13-14 rainbows a piece. Saturday brought light rain and overcast skies which I was excited about because it usually turns the fish on, and I was not mistaken. We both brought to hand around 25 trout a piece with 4 in the 17-18 inch range and one big male hitting 20. We also hooked into some smallmouth, goggle eye, and sight fished pickerel in a backwater slough, breaking off two and bringing one nice one to hand, they couldn't stand a clouser getting stripped passed them... The river is currently low and clear but in great shape, and the fish all seemed to be real healthy. Flies of choice were stonefly patterns, white streamers, marabou jigs, prince nymph and egg patterns. Big shout out to Brian Sloss for the great service on our shuttle and helping us out as always! A few pics attached, get out there and get some! Cheers, Jack

haha! you guys are to funny.

@snagged in outlet 3 Why are the not stocking Busch this year, any insight? I actually enjoy fishing 28 on those cold days during the winter every now and then. Thats unfortunate. As far as it being really warm, I would imagine water temps are cool enough, seem to be in the upper 60s lower 70s on most lakes.

I myself own a jackson cuda and a jackson coosa. Both kayaks are great. There a little on the pricey side, but totally worth the investment, and depending on what kind of vehicle you have, you can get racks that make load / unloading very easy... My two cents is the same as Dman said above, get a sit on top that has comfortable seating and spend the extra money. Most of the newer name brand sit on top kayaks are extremely durable, very very stable, unsinkable, and have ample room for dry storage so your overnight river floats are done with ease... Hope this helps. Cheers.

@DownStream I just take the photos with my iPhone and then fix them up a little with some editing software on my phone... Been thinking about getting a good camera that can take some nice macro shots...

Got out to one of my favorite creeks yesterday evening. Water was lower then expected and gin clear. This made it very easy to find fish and they were eager to eat. Got into 10 - 12 smallmouth in the 12 - 14 inch range, a few large goggle-eye, and a couple smaller black bass. The creek was in great shape which I was glad to see. Waded downstream to a larger hole with very little current and managed a new personal best for this creek, as well as my best smallmouth of this year! Fish was released healthy and hopefully will be caught another day. A few pics for your viewing pleasure. Cheers, Jack.

Awesome post! Thanks for sharing!

Those little creek sallies are the best. So much fight. Lets see some of those 17-18 inch creek smallies next time! Those are brutes for creek fish and few and far between... Thanks for sharing!

@Johnsfolly I had just let go and snapped the pic right before it swam off. I try to do that often, but they usually don't turn out due to the fish taking off to quick.

Made it out for a few hours the morning of memorial day. Hit up my favorite smallmouth creek. Water was at great flow which was good since the past few trips the water has been rather low making it more difficult to sneak up on bigger fish. To my surprise there were quite a few fish still staging for the spawn, and quite a few on beds. I had fished the creek a month ago right after the full moon and the majority of fish were on beds then, so I was surprised to see such a number of second wave spawners. Either way I guess its a good sign of a healthy population of smallmouth. Didn't catch anything huge, but a handful around that 14-15 inch mark, which I would take anyway of the week. A few pics for your viewing pleasure. Cheers and Tight Lines!

Made it back out last weekend to one of my favorite smallmouth creeks. With the full moon over the past weekend I was expecting some fish to be moving up on beds. To my surprise nearly all the fish had hit the beds or were staging to do so. Still managed to pull a few out, Goggle eye were biting really good as well as largemouth and spotted bass. However the smallmouth had mostly one thing on their mind and one thing only. It was like a Marvin Gaye was playing "lets get it on" live on the stream bed... Glad to see the amount of healthy fish and different year classes all grouped up in one of my favorite creeks. Here is a pic of the best one from the day, went around 15.5 inches. Tight Lines! Jack

@mic It was a sculpin pattern I have been playing with and tying myself. I don't have any images on me, but its pretty basic. Ill take a photo of one when I get home from traveling for work for ya.

Awesome Video Ryan! Very enjoyable. I have yet to get to Crane Creek but plan on it in the future! Keep it up and thanks for sharing. Cheers! Jack

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear you had some looks from some nice browns and caught one. Cheers!

Ouch, That is slow... Been wanting to get down to the Point to see it for myself. I was told by another crew that went down there that it was a little tough, but nothing like that. Said they were finding a lot of fish where you would not think they would normally be. Also heard a lot of the fish moved upstream from Greer... Thanks for the report. Appreciate it.

The snow would have been cool to be out in this morning doing some fishing. Glad someone made it happen! Nice work and good looking coosa! Own one myself, as well as a cuda in that exact same color way. Think we already covered that topic. Anyway, glad to hear you caught some fish. Love the snow canoe pic!

Thanks for the reports and pics. Was out there on Saturday and am still amazed with the healthy population that the creek had to offer. Thanks for sharing!

So I have been wanting to fish the Lane Spring area of the Little Piney for over a year now. The last two times I had set time aside to go, the creek was blown out both those weekends. Yesterday everything finally looked like it was a go. Met up with a good buddy of mine around 7:00 am and hit the road for Lane Spring from the St louis area. The weather forecast for the day was calling for some wind and the occasional overcast skies with a high of 48 dropping throughout the afternoon. Arrived at Lane spring and it was calm and sunny. Only one other truck in the parking lot when we arrived and another as we were getting things in order. Geared up and headed to the water. On the water we started fishing the first riffle between two pools and there were a good amount of fish rising. We never could identify what they were taking, most likely tiny emergers of some sort... Nymphed that run for a bit and hooked into a nice little 5-6 inch rainbow with the traditional beautiful park marks that the trout of lane spring are known for. Skunk was over and confidence boosted. Nymphed that run for a bit longer and nothing, so decided to tie on a dry. Went through about 2-3 different dry flys until I finally had a take and the second 5-6 inch trout trout to hand. Decided to start working our way downstream to new water. Rising fish were less and less common so set up a nymph rig once again and began picking apart each run and riffle. The trout didn't seem to picky about what flies you had tied on, as long as presentation was good, and my buddy and I picked 2-4 trout up out of each pool / riffle we dissected as we moved down stream. Finally came upon some deeper water, probably around 6-8 ft of water. As we worked through the hole both of us were catching fish on the dead drift as well as the swing. All of sudden my buddy sets his rod high up in the air and immediately I could tell it was a better fish with the nice bend in his rod. Nice 12-13 inch fish in the net! A few really quick pics and smiles / high fives and we said farewell to the fish and watched it swim away. Continued on downstream picking up smaller fish here and there. Around the next bend we approached some even deeper water than we had previously fished all day. Again started working each current seam and dissecting the stream and bam, hard strike, I set the hook and was knew immediately it was a good fish. The fight was hectic as there were many obstructions / down trees / root wads/ etc between me and the fish. Tired to keep my composure and entice the fish with my rod to stay clear of everything between me and him that could easily get my tippet in a bad situation... Head shakes and hard runs for around 30 seconds or so and I netted my biggest trout of the day, and biggest fish I have ever caught on that creek. Around 15 inches. Both of us were ecstatic, after a few quick pics and high fives we watched the fish swim energetically back into the green depths of that little creek. Overall I could not have asked for a better day spent. My friend and I both brought around 25 fish to hand a piece with a few doubles which are always great, and two really solid fish for that creek. A few pics your viewing pleasure. Couple of little trout with great colors and the big one of the day. Tight Lines! Catch, Respect, and Release! Cheers, Jack.

Was going to go trout fishing on Saturday, but after looking up some of the CFS levels, and seeing some of the trout streams running a little higher then I would have liked, I decided to go chase some smallmouth at a few of my favorite smaller smallmouth creeks. Got into the waders and in the water around 9:00 am. Bite was really slow the first part of the morning. Caught a few bluegill and creek chubs and decided to make a move to another creek. Second creek water was much more clear with slightly better flow. Got down to the first riffle and casted into a eddy in the tail-out and got hit. Another cast and another fish in the same spot. Both good fights for the size. Continued to wade and cover water throughout the day landing 12 or so smallmouth, a few spotted bass, and a handful of goggle-eye. Nothing big, one that went about 14 inches or so, but they sure do fight good. The smallmouth were sporting some awesome colors, took a few pics.. Didn't see another soul all day and was glad to get a good bend in the fly rod, all in all a great day. All fish were caught and released... Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure!